My research aims to define the chemical behaviour of volatiles, in particular, the halogens and sulphur, in silicate melts. In order to understand how volatiles influences the properties of a melt, the fluids they exsolve and the glasses they form, a detailed understanding of the underlying thermodynamic properties is vital. We attempt to do this by performing experiments with silicate glasses and various buffers at high temperatures and pressures.
A perfect experiment, showing a nice silicate glass, a separate,
segregated metal + metal chloride buffer, and an oxygen fugacity buffer.
I am supervised by Bernard Wood, and part of the experimental petrology group.
View Selected Publications
Thomas R. W., Wade J., and Wood B. J. (2023) The bonding environment of chlorine in silicate melts. Chem. Geol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121269
Thomas R. W. and Wood B. J. (2022) The effect of composition on chlorine solubility and behaviour in silicate melts. Am. Mineral. In Press. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8450
Thomas R. W. and Wood B. J. (2021) The chemical behaviour of chlorine in silicate melts. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 294, 28–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.11.018
Dobson, D. P., Thomas, R. W., and Mitchell, T. M. (2018). Diffusion Profiles Around Quartz Clasts as Indicators of the Thermal History of Pseudotachylytes. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 19(11), 4329–4341. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC007660